INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

DP

By Ali Yusuf

FEBRUARY 2023

“The Effect of The Pressure of Gas Above the Water Surface

on Its Boiling Point.’’

Research Question:

How does change in pressure of gas above the water surface affect the boiling point of water by
keeping volume of test tube constant?
Introduction

1.1. Explanation of the Experiment and Personal Interest

Accidental explosions from pressure cookers have resulted in numerous individuals experiencing second-
degree burns, infections, blindness, injuries, and even death. There has been an excessive amount of news
regarding pressure cooker explosions, for example, in September of 2019, a woman was left blinded in
one eye after a pressure cooker exploded and the metal whistle hit her in the face, causing a bullet-sized
whistle to be lodged in her skull after it was expelled from the exploding pressure cooker. Another
incident in January 2019, resulted in a 9-year-old boy and his grandmother from Wynnewood, Oklahoma,
sustaining severe burns from a pressure cooker explosion.

Due to the potential dangers of pressure cooker explosions, I am worried about the possibility of people
being injured or killed. Despite this, I question why we continue to use pressure cookers in our kitchens.
Whenever people cook meat, they often opt to use a pressure cooker instead of other cooking tools. I
became curious about this trend and decided to conduct some research to understand why pressure
cookers are so popular for cooking meat. Upon asking several people and looking on the internet, I
learned that pressure cookers are favored for cooking meat because they produce faster and more
delicious results. This is due to the fact that the pressure in a pressure cooker raises the boiling point of
water, which in turn speeds up the cooking process. People are attracted to pressure cookers because they
can cook meat in a shorter amount of time while still achieving the desired taste and texture. This makes
the pressure cooker an efficient and convenient option for cooking meat in the kitchen.

This led me to contemplate the relationship between pressure and phase changes, leading me to decide to
research why pressure affects the boiling point of water. While I was in middle school, I was fascinated
by the topic of how pressure affects the boiling point of water and decided to conduct an experiment in
the laboratory to explore it further. I was drawn to the subject because of its intrinsic interest and wanted
to deepen my understanding of the relationship between pressure and the boiling point of water. As a
result, I planned to conduct a scientific experiment that would allow me to study this relationship in a
controlled and systematic manner. I was eager to learn more about this topic and was motivated to
uncover the underlying science behind it. The research question I have in mind is: "How does the change
in gas pressure above the water surface impact the boiling point of water?"

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1
Guildner, L. A. and D. P. Johnson, F. E. Jones. “Vapor Pressure of Water at Its Triple Point.” J. Res Natl Bur Stand
a Phys Chem, vol. 80A, no. 3, May-Jun 1976, pp. 505-521, National Library of Medicine,
DOI: 10.6028/jres.080A.054.

2
Mahmood, Basit. “Woman Blinded in One Eye After Pressure Cooker Whistle Exploded Into Her Skull.” Metro, 9
Sep 2019, metro.co.uk/2019/09/09/woman-blinded-one-eye-pressure-cooker-whistle-exploded-skull-
10710717/. Accessed by 12.10.2021

1.2. Background Information

1.2.1. Temperature and Heat
Temperature refers to the degree of warmth or chilliness of an object, and the movement of heat from a
hot body to a cold body. It represents the average kinetic energy per molecule in a substance, and the
energy that is exchanged is known as heat. Heat transfer occurs due to differences in temperature between
objects. Objects that are in thermal equilibrium possess the same temperature.

1.2.2. Phase Change

For a substance to change its state, energy must be added or removed. While the average kinetic energy of
molecules stays constant during a change of state, the potential energy of particles is altered. This
potential energy is stored in the bonds between molecules. The concept of latent heat is crucial in
comprehending phase changes, which are changes of state that occur without a change in temperature.
Latent heat refers to the energy required to cause a phase change.

1.2.3. Phase change-Boiling

Boiling is the transformation of a substance from liquid to gas. This process begins when a balance is
established between atmospheric pressure and the pressure of the gas above the water's surface. In the
gaseous phase, the kinetic energy of the molecules must be higher compared to the liquid phase. This is
because the particles must have enough kinetic energy to break the molecular bonds for boiling to occur.
In water, hydrogen bonding takes place, which is a polar dipole force and a strong force that keeps the
molecules in a liquid state. To overcome these hydrogen bonds and attain higher kinetic energy at higher
temperatures, the phase of the water molecules must change to gas. When the temperature of the system is
high enough, boiling begins and liquid molecules start to turn into gas molecules.

3
Www.Toppr.Com. www.toppr.com/guides/physics/thermal-properties-of-matter/heat-transfer. Accessed 3 Jan.
2022.

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4
Boundless. “Kinetic Molecular Theory of Matter | Boundless Chemistry.” Kinetic Molecular Theory of Matter,
courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-chemistry/chapter/kinetic-molecular-theory-of-matter. Accessed 3 Jan. 2022.

Graph:1 Temperature vs Heat Graph During the Phase Change

When the pressure of the gas above the surface of water is equal to the atmospheric pressure, boiling
occurs. As the pressure of the gas above the liquid decreases, the boiling temperature also decreases. As a
liquid is heated, its vapor pressure increases until it reaches the same level as the atmospheric pressure.
Within the liquid, vaporized liquid, or gas, forms bubbles that rise to the surface and burst, releasing the
gas. At boiling temperatures, the vapor inside the bubbles exerts enough pressure to keep them from
collapsing. For vapor to be produced, the liquid molecules must overcome the forces that hold them
together. Even when additional heat is added to a boiling liquid, its temperature remains constant. The
temperature at which the pressure of the gas above the liquid is equal to the atmospheric pressure is
known as the boiling point. The temperature at which a liquid's vapor pressure is equal to one atmosphere
is referred to as its normal boiling point, which is 760 torr.

5
“Boiling.” Chem.Purdue, www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/liquids/boil.html#:%7E:text=The%20boiling

%20point%20of%20a,one%20atmosphere%20(760%20torr). Accessed 3 Jan. 2022

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 1.2.4. Equilibrium Vapor Pressure

Figure 1: The Vapor Pressures of Several Liquids as a Function of Temperature. The point at which the
vapor pressure curve crosses the P = 1 atm line (dashed) is the normal boiling point of the liquid.

The exponential rise in vapor pressure with increasing temperature in Figure 1 allows us to use natural
logarithms to express the nonlinear relationship as a linear one.
−ΔHvap 1
lnP= +C
R T

Where;

 lnP is the natural logarithm of the vapor pressure,

 ΔHvap is the enthalpy of vaporization,
 R is the universal gas constant [8.314 J/(mol•K)],
 T is the temperature in kelvins, and
 C is the y-intercept, which is a constant for any given line.
Plotting lnP versus the inverse of the absolute temperature (1/T) is a straight line with a slope of
−ΔHvap/R. Equation 1, called the Clausius–Clapeyron Equation, can be used to calculate the ΔHvap of a
liquid from its measured vapor pressure at two or more temperatures. The simplest way to
determine ΔHvap is to measure the vapor pressure of a liquid at two temperatures and insert the values
of P and T for these points into Equation 1, which is derived from the Clausius–Clapeyron equation:
P 1 −ΔHvap 1 1 6
ln( )= ( - )
P2 R T1 T2

Conversely, if we know ΔHvap and the vapor pressure P1 at any temperature T1, we can use Equation 1 to
calculate the vapor pressure P2 at any other temperature T2.

6
Foundation, CK-12. “12 Foundation.’’ CK, flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-chemistry-flexbook-2.0/section/
17.13/primary/lesson/heats-of-vaporization-and-condensation-chem/.

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2. Research Question and Hypothesis
Research question: ‘‘How does change in pressure of gas above the water surface affect the
boiling point of water by keeping volume of test tube constant?’’

Hypothesis: Increasing pressure will be directly proportional to boiling point.

The boiling point depends on the type of liquid. Except it, the atmospheric pressure affects the boiling
point of liquid. Because, the boiling stars when atmospheric pressure is equal to vapor pressure of
the liquid. They are directly proportional to each other. Also vapor pressure is directly
proportional to temperature of the gaseous.